Fool Me Once
by Qui-ti
Summary: A not so platonic encounter with a certain vampire leaves Buffy questioning just how she feels towards Spike. Full Summary inside. Season 5, Fool For Love and onwards.
1. Chapter 1

Full Summary: A not-so-platonic encounter with a certain vampire leaves Buffy questioning just _how_ she feels towards Spike. When Buffy realizes how much she's come to rely upon the vampire, Glory catches wind of their new friendship and captures him, leaving the Slayer to find some way to get him back. (Crappy summary, sorry-- takes place after Fool For Love)

Disclaimer: The characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are not mine but are owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. This is strictly for entertainmaint purposes and not meant to infringe on anyone's rights.

Author's Note: This bounced around in my brain and I _had_ to write this scene. I thought I might want to do it as a stand-alone somewhat humor fic, but I decided to come up with a plot:) Please review and tell me what you think.

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_**Fool Me Once****

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** _

Chapter 1

The wind was brisk as Buffy slowly settled herself down onto the porch steps, but she did not retreat back into the comfort and safety of her home. There were too many questions in her mind, but the person she needed to ask wasn't there for the first time in her life. Finally, one of the things from her dream with the First Slayer was making sense.

_I haven't appreciated Mom… and now she could…_

The words didn't form in her mind as the trees rustled with a presence not of the blowing wind. She heard footsteps and looked up, the chill she felt on her cheeks the first indication that she had been crying. Spike stared down at her, his azure eyes piercing into hers with a fiery rage that she hadn't known he possessed.

She knew that her tears were still wet on her face, and even if they had dried, more were flowing. Curiously, his expression became almost compassionate, questioning, and she knew she could not let him see her weakness. "What the Hell are you doing back here, Spike? I already paid you," she said snidely, recalling the condescending attitude she had used the whole night. His words to her echoed in her mind, and she felt a twinge of regret as his pitying gaze turned mocking.

"You may have given me the cash, love, but I'm here to finally take what's been mine for three years." His words held implications that became explicit as he pulled a shotgun from his duster and held it level at her still-seated form; he visibly flinched, but did not alter his aim. "I'm thinkin' it's about time for me to bag my third Slayer."

Staring down the barrel of the gun, it was a shock to her that she felt… nothing. No fear, no anger, just… nothing. And it hit her, at that moment, that Spike was about to get his one good day. And she didn't even care. _I want it._

It should have infuriated her. Not just in the sense that he thought so highly of himself as to be the one to kill her; but it was that only hours earlier she had so adamantly assured him of his inferiority to him, and now all she could do was view him as the one who could take her to the next plane of existence… that he could be the one. And that it didn't disgust her. She wanted it.

When Buffy said nothing, the vampire raised his eyebrows in question and snapped his fingers in front of her gaze. "Hello, Earth to Slayer… I'm here to kill you!" When she said nothing, he let out an aggravated sigh and brandished the gun as if to prove a point. "You're not gonna say anything then, love? Not even make a li'l pun about all the footprints that'll be on my ass when you're done with me?" Again, she was silent, merely staring up at him with those big, glassy eyes. He hesitated, then said, "The suit yourself, pet."

He stood there for a beat, unmoving and staring at the silent girl until Buffy finally spoke. "Do it."

"What?" Spike asked incredulously, stepping back and raising his eyebrows again in surprise. "Is this some reverse-psychology you learned at university, love? Because my psyche isn't exactly run-of-the-mill, pet."

She let out a terse laugh and finally stood, stepping onto the grass and moving right in front of him. His capricious behavior could have been amusing to some, but to her it was merely an obstacle. "End it. Kill me. Bag yourself a third Slayer. I'm done with you, done with this world, done with life!" She took a deep breath and let it out angrily, throwing her hands into the air. "Being here, everyday, dealing with vampires, my friends, _you_… I'm done with it!" A shaky laugh escaped from her lips as she looked to the darkened sky as if for an answer to her pleas. "Take me out of this world, send me anywhere that _isn't_ the Hell I live everyday. End my torment!" She punctuated her last words slowly, staring right into his smoldering gaze with her fiery own.

And then she kissed him.

It was brutal, passionate, bruising. The gun fell to the ground unnoticed as his hands raked over her body, hers slipping into his duster and under his black shirt to caress the rock-hard muscles of his cool body. When he let out a groan, she broke away, gasping for breath and staring at him again, a different look in her eyes deepening the hazel of her gaze and entrancing him.

She stared at him, seeing his true self bared for the first time in all of their encounters. He looked scared, out of his element, but was not questioning what had transpired; she found herself drawn to him once more, moving slowly this time to press her body closely to his. Reaching upwards, she pulled him down to her by the lapels of his duster and they shared another kiss, the pace languid and slow as she wrapped her arms around his neck and increased the contact of their two bodies.

It intensified, his lips traveling across her face to the curve of her neck where he nipped and played with the soft skin there. It was her turn to moan this time, and with a breathless voice whispered, "Oh yes, please. God, Spike!"

The heat of his mouth on her skin was more than she could bear, and she almost burst when he murmured, "I want you, Buffy."

Arching against his body and thrusting her hips closer to his, she could do nothing but relinquish her mind to the desires of her flesh, to drop the façade she had so long put up for the vampire before her. As they sank to the soft grass below, she closed her eyes and moaned. "I need you now Spike, I love you—"

With a harsh gasp, Buffy sat up in bed, sweat pouring down her face as the images she had just dreamed replayed in her head. "Oh, no… Oh, _god_ no."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Now time to venture into plotland:)

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_**Fool Me Once

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**__Chapter 2_

Buffy paced impatiently, her mind racing as she debated entering the examination room to hear the results of the CAT scan. Her mind was busy enough as it was with worrying about her mother's health, but had been helped none by her _insane_—yes, that was the word, insane—dream last night and the coinciding Food Network Iron Chef marathon that she had watched trying to get back to sleep.

The blonde flinched, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to block out the images of Spike's infuriatingly sexy looks. Actually dreaming of what he had done to her was bad enough, but—as she told herself repeatedly while her pacing feet wore a path in the linoleum floor—everyone had crazy dreams every once and a while. _Hello Cheese Man?_ she thought to herself ruefully, a nervous laugh escaping her throat. No, what had been plaguing her thoughts was the way that she had reacted to her dream; there was no denying that she had gotten hot. The taste of what she had experienced had only fueled the unacknowledged lust that she had _so_ never felt for the Evil Dead.

The slight touch on her shoulder sent her whirling around to face Riley, and with a twinge of guilt the fantasy that had most definitely _not_ been playing in her head came to an abrupt stop. "I heard," he said simply, reaching out to pull her into a hug.

"I have to go check on my mom," Buffy said quickly, taking a step backwards and crossing her arms. It was involuntary, but she knew the second she pulled away that he had been hurt. The realization of rejection showed in his eyes and, knowing that she was being unfair, she moved close to him once more. "Will you help me out and watch over Dawn while I'm in there?" she asked, Riley's eyes lighting up when she cast him the part of the Needed, Dependable Boyfriend.

"Of course I will, Buffy." Nearly hugging her again, too late he changed the motion into an awkward back-pat and stepped away. "Where is she?"

"In the waiting room. I'll head back over there when I'm done in here." Attempting a grateful smile, Buffy turned and entered the examination room.

* * *

"All in one day!" Buffy yelled angrily, punching the vampire in the face and kicking it to the ground before slamming her stake into its chest. "Can you believe it?" 

"I most certainly can't, love." With a yelp, the Slayer turned and faced the suddenly-present vampire of her dreams. _I'm going to slay my internal monologue for that one_, she thought mutinously, at the involuntary term of endearment bestowed upon the smirking blond vamp.

"What are you doing here, Spike?" Buffy asked, brushing the vampire dust off her black coat and giving him the most annoyed look she could manage. "I'm having a bad day and I _really_ can't deal with you right now." Her dream had been pushed from her thoughts during the big 'gotta kill the evil Key-seeking demon' ordeal, but Spike's presence had unwelcomingly sent it (and the oh-so-infuriating fantasies it caused) crashing back; the last thing she wanted now was to talk to him with _that_ on her mind.

Setting himself casually upon a headstone, Spike tilted his head to one side and raised an eyebrow. "I see you're all healed up, pet," he said, gesturing to her side. "I'm just checking to see whether my favorite li'l Slayer is in the mood for a dance."

"And that'll happen in what universe?"

His eyebrow quirked slightly as he responded, deadpan, "I'd wager in the one where we're mortal enemies." With a momentarily pensive expression, Spike gave her a smirk. "Hey, it's your lucky day. I think we just might live in it, pet!"

Undeterred, Buffy turned and began walking away from him. "Go home, Spike."

Within a second, he was following her. "I was just wonderin' how you were doin' was all." When she was silent, he said, "I'm taking that as not so good."

"I already told you that I had a bad day. Now leave." Buffy knew she was being more dismissive than usual, but she was covered with vampire dust and _really_ needed to go home to take a shower. Alone. And go to bed. Alone. When Spike's nose twitched interestedly in her physical response to the not-so unaccompanied scenarios being posed by her mind, Buffy's cheeks reddened and she quickened her pace.

Unfortunately for her, vampires weren't exactly lacking in the stamina department.

The observation caused another naughty thought to surface, and when she saw out of the corner of her eye Spike open his mouth to speak, she said the first thing she could think of to make him forget about what he undoubtedly had sensed.

"We found out about my mom." There was a momentarily tense pause; for a moment, Buffy debated upon simply leaving right there, but there was something in his eyes that compelled her to tell him the whole story. Evenly, she said, "It's cancer."

As soon as she said the words, a strange look appeared on his face. Buffy studied him for a moment as he turned to the side, a muscle tensing in his clenched jaw as he swallowed forcefully. It came to her then, what he was thinking. _He's sad about my mom_. To others, it may not have been such a revelation, but Buffy had never really thought of Spike as a person before, never realized that his interactions with her mother had ever been anything other than an attempt to infuriate her. Spike didn't have friends. He couldn't fit into the demon world, but most certainly wouldn't be accepted as human. And now, the one person who had really treated him as such…

Before she realized what she was doing, Buffy reached out and placed her hand gently on his arm. He quickly turned back to face her, trying to shake off the emotions that threatened to overcome him but knowing that she had already seen them.

It was almost refreshing, she realized. All day she had been surrounded by people that were too afraid to show her anything other than assurances that her mother would be fine. Dawn was the only one who hadn't acted as such, but she was not only scared, but confused as well. She needed Buffy to be strong for her, to be the mother that theirs might not be able to be. Buffy could be strong for Dawn without a problem, but she had no one to be afraid with.

But with Spike… she glimpsed that fear in his eyes and knew that she wasn't alone.

He must have seen the change overcome her; he stopped his strong-man act and let his shoulders sag with the worry he felt. "I'm so sorry, love," Spike said softly, settling down on a headstone and pulling out a cigarette. Buffy said nothing, but her silence was not uncomfortable; she sat down beside him and watched the smoke drift through the air and dissipate into the night.

It wasn't until Spike had taken the last drag and flicked the ember aside that he spoke. "Is it bad?"

"Yes." Buffy brushed a strand of hair out of her face and let out a derisive laugh. "Well, the said she had a good chance, but I'm not exactly leaping with joy that she's got a 30 likelihood at life."

"Christ," Spike breathed, nervously pulling another cigarette out and placing it between his lips before lighting it. Sucking in until the end glowed, he exhaled harshly and looked to the girl sitting next to him. "How's the bit?"

"She's dealing," Buffy answered. "Willow and Tara are letting her stay over with them tonight, so I could patrol and head back to my mom."

They shared another comfortable moment of silence, Spike quietly smoking. He looked slightly apprehensive, but after a moment he finally spoke. "Your mum's always been kind to me Buffy. Never met many humans that I liked, but she was one of 'em." He took another drag of the cigarette, letting the smoke spill from his parted lips in a thick, slowly drifting cloud. "Point is, I don't want you thinkin' I've got any evil mischief up my sleeve in asking about her. Figure it's the least I could to do repay her."

He looked down to the ground, as if afraid to see her reaction to his statement. Letting the unfinished cigarette fall to the ground, his hands began nervously fidgeting in his lap. There was no way for him to know how Buffy would react to his statement; he'd almost half expected to get kicked to the ground the second he said anything about her mother, a nice wooden stake shoved through his chest to accent the lesson of 'don't talk to the Slayer about her sick mum.' When he finally glanced at Buffy's face, however, he was met with a sight he hadn't expected to see.

"You're smiling." It wasn't so much a statement as a question, as his eyes met those of a girl who looked entirely too comfortable with his presence. It was strange, to see her looking at _him_ with those eyes; the gaze she held now was one that he had only seen directed at him on one previous occasion, and that was only the result of a spell gone _completely_ wrong. But she was looking at him like that again, and it felt… right.

"You got a problem with that, Spike?" Buffy asked, in response to his question. This exacted a smile of his own.

"Just surprising was all, Slayer."

"You're not the only one, then," she said shortly. "Today was not one of the joyful variety." She looked to him again with those eyes and Spike felt something warm fill his chest. "You helped though."

"What?" he asked in surprise.

Shaking her head and standing up, the Slayer stood before him, gracing him with another smile and saying simply, "Good night, Spike." Before the shocked vampire could say another word, she turned and walked away into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thanks for all of the reviews! You guys really made me happy, haha. :) New chapter! Btw, this story can also be found at http/ which is an awesome Spuffy site. :) Please review!

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_**Fool Me Once

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**__Chapter 3_

During her long walk back to the hospital, Buffy's mind played a nice game. A game that should have been known as 'let's make Buffy insane with revelations.'

_Revelations that _so _didn't happen._

_Are you kidding girl? You're hot for him._

_Am not!_

_Are too!_

_Just because I had a dream about him—_

—_a _sex _dream!—_

—_a _dream_, doesn't mean that I want him!_

_And I suppose it doesn't mean you are seeing him as more than a vampire now, either, eh?_

"Shut up!" Buffy said out loud, kicking a can in the street forcefully and sending it half a block down the road until it collided with a trash can. "Great, now I'm taking to myself. God, I have such worse things to worry about."

_And here you are thinking about Mr. Sexy Vampire._

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Buffy said exasperatedly.

"What?"

The unexpected sound of a second voice sent Buffy whirling around. "Riley!" she said in relief, as he stepped out of the narrow alley intersecting with the street. Buffy craned her neck to the side and looked behind her boyfriend. "What'cha doin' there?"

"Just chasing down a vampire," Riley answered, pulling his sleeve down further in order to conceal the band aid on his wrist. "What about you, Buff? I thought you'd be at the, uh, hospital."

"Doing a quick patrol before morning. I kind of needed to let off some steam." The two began walking down the street together, but separated by a good foot of space between them. They were talking normally, but Buffy sensed that there was something bothering her boyfriend. "Are you alright, Riley?"

"Yeah, I'm great! Er, fine," he answered, almost too quickly. She reluctantly took this as the truth, but couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something wrong. "How was your patrol? Feeling any better?"

"Yeah," Buffy answered, although that was far from the case. There was nothing that would alleviate the apprehension she felt about her mother's illness and the coming struggle with it, and now there were _other_ things of almost equal proportions on her mind.

Because she really couldn't keep denying what she had felt after the dream. Not just the lust—she'd had _those_ thoughts, however secretly, nearly the entire time she had known him. No, there was something more, something that had been pretty plain to Buffy the moment that she had woken up. But she denied, denied, denied, if not to the others—because no one would _ever_ know what had happened—to herself. It was all for nothing though; she couldn't ignore the fact that she had felt something intense.

A connection.

One which she had just proved to be more than a crazy dream scenario. She had felt it again when she had told Spike about her mother, and it resulted in Crazy!Buffy talking to herself and numerous inanimate objects.

And apparently, Crazy!Buffy didn't know exactly how to converse with the other humans very well; Riley had been chatting about something nonsensical for the past five minutes while the fun revelation game continued within her mind.

It took her a minute to realize that Riley's rambling had somehow turned into questioning. Of her. "What?" she asked dazedly, looking up and realizing for the first time that they were outside of the hospital.

"Do you want me to go in with you?"

"That's okay," she answered quickly. She had already dealt with Riley's 'let it out' speech once and was not interested in a repeat performance. Maybe it was selfish, considering the fact that she so craved someone with whom to share the weight she carried, but Buffy just _couldn't_ confide to Riley—not about something of the magnitude of her mother's sickness. "My mom's probably sleeping, but I wanted to be here just in case she needs anything." Standing on her toes, she gave her boyfriend a chaste kiss on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Riley looked as if he wanted to protest, but resignedly nodded. "G'night, Buff."

"Night."

* * *

By the time the blond vampire managed to drag himself from the tombstone he hadn't moved from, there was a small mountain of cigarette butts littering the earthen ground. 

Bloody revelations.

There was something changing in the Slayer, he could sense it; maybe it was just the pressure of having to finally grow up and out of her high school self, or of having yet another person completely reliant upon her care, but it seemed… deeper than that.

Spike hadn't let himself think of their time on her porch, of the feel of her silently crying body shaking when she somehow found her way into his arms. He knew how disoriented the poor bird was; probably didn't even realize that it was him holding her. Thinking back on how he felt about it now, the emotion being held out over all others was shame—shame that he had gone there to snuff the life from her, and was rewarded with seeing a glimpse of her true self.

It hadn't been the Slayer that he had comforted that night; it was Buffy, no strings attached. The way she had looked that night, the strength of her sobs coursing through her—made a bloke wonder when had been the last time she had bared her true self to the world. It had obviously been a while, that was for certain; he doubted whether even Red or the whelp had ever seen that side of her.

And again, unworthiness came swirling up and soured his stomach.

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered, shaking his head as he stood and began to walk through the cemetery, his black leather duster swirling about his legs. The thing about shame was that it managed to chase you regardless of how quickly you ran away, was always there to nag at you, make you lose your mind. "You've got that right," the vampire chuckled, a smile forming on his face. He had initially thought that he had dreamed up the whole night before, but their encounter tonight had only confirmed their sudden comfort with one another. There was a change in the Slayer, all right, but exactly what it was, he had no idea. Maybe it was the way she looked at him—her stare, those eyes…

It was bittersweet torture. The taste that he had of Buffy, the two moments of closeness they shared… it wasn't nearly enough to satiate the desire he had for her, to satisfy the need he had for her mere presence; William was a fool in love, but Spike wouldn't let his blind hope prevail.

"She could never want you, mate," the vampire said with false joviality, exiting through the gate of the cemetery and heading down the road to the nearest convenience store. He would get piss drunk and finally rid his mind of the constantly-present Slayer within it; if he didn't forget about Buffy soon, she would take over his entire existence.

No one says you've got to stay Love's Bitch forever.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

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_**Fool Me Once

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**__Chapter 4_

The sound of his crypt door banging open awakened the _very_ hung-over vampire slouched in a worn-out old chair. "Wha' the bloody hell issat?" he slurred, blinking in the sudden light and trying to focus his blurring eyes. The figure was moving closer, but the glare of the light streaming into the room from the door behind them blurred their features. The profile was familiar though: slender frame, long hair, impatiently crossed arms—

"Dawn." Spike sat up and winced, a hand going straight to his aching forehead. "What the bloody hell are you doing here, Bit?" The sight of the girl sobered him up substantially, but the pounding of his head wouldn't subside as easily.

"Ditching school," she said, hopping up onto a sarcophagus and smiling at the irate vampire before her. "Buffy said I could go if I wanted, but I really didn't feel like it, so I came here instead." At the vamp's unchanging expression, Dawn raised her hands in a gesture of innocence. "What?"

"What?" he echoed, moving through the shadows to close the still-open door. "Lying to your sis, bit?"

"Well, _sorry_," Dawn snarked, raising her eyebrows. "Since when were you all prim and proper and Mr. After-School Special?"

"Since your older sis threatened to stake me with a million splinters if I was to encourage evil mischief from you," he answered, settling himself down onto the coffin next to her and raising an eyebrow. "Now off to school, you young impressionable nibblet, you."

The teenager rolled her eyes, ignoring Spike's command and reaching into her pocket. "Just let me do your nails first!" she whined, upon producing a small bottle of black polish. "Please?"

Those big doe eyes and pleading smile were too much for the vampire. Begrudgingly, he turned to sit cross-legged on the stone coffin, evoking a squeal from the teenager before him. "Just the nails, and then you're off to your sis," he said warningly, eliciting another eye roll from the girl.

"Please, Spike, like she wants me around anyway," she said aloofly, taking his right hand in her own and carefully covering his thumb nail with the black polish.

"Why do you say that, pet?"

"Because she doesn't!"

The attitude of cool indifference melted away quicker than Spike expected, and he was momentarily caught unaware of what to say. "But what makes you think she doesn't care?" he said evenly, letting the teen focus on her painting of his nails. When she was quiet for a moment, he gently pressed, "Dawn?"

"Can I tell you something?" she said in a small voice, without looking up from the hand she held in her own. She returned the brush to the bottle of polish but still kept her gaze focused away from his. "I… I think there's something wrong with me, Spike. Like, I'm different or something." Spike said nothing but waited for her to continue. "At the hospital today, this guy… a crazy guy, I dunno. He looked at me and said that there was no data, or something like that. It happened before, too." She looked up, then, a strange expression on her face. "At the Magic Box. Some guy, he said I didn't belong here." Her voice gained a pleading quality as she said, "I belong here, don't I, Spike? There's nothing wrong with me, is there?"

"Of course there isn't anything wrong with you," he said comfortingly, involuntarily reaching up with the hand she wasn't clinging to and brushing a strand of hair behind her ears. "Well, except for your Li'l Big Bad attempt. I'm not buying it, Nibblet. You just aren't _evil_ enough to do it right."

"Like you are?" she retorted, a welcome smile coming to her face.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on, Spike, you are _so_ whipped over my sister!"

The funny choking noise he made when he jerked back was almost enough to drive any thoughts of their previous conversation from her mind. When the indignant expression _refused_ to leave his face, Dawn bemusedly shook her head. "Don't try to deny it, Spike, I _know_ you like her."

"She's the Slayer! Last time I checked, vampires don't run about making moon eyes at the one chosen to kill 'em."

"So you're telling me that you don't have a thing for her?"

The question allowed no evasions. Spike narrowed his eyes at the girl before him and tried to make his voice as menacing as possible. "Little girls would best mind their own business when in the company of evil, evil men."

The resulting squeal resounded through the crypt and caused Spike to clap his hands over his ears. "Spike loves Buffy, Spike loves Buffy!" Dawn chanted, to much avail of the peroxide blond vampire. "Oh come on, don't be so embarrassed. I totally saw this coming."

"What are you on about now, Nibblet?"

"When Willow's spell went all kerflooey!" Dawn said, gesturing wildly with her hands to illustrate the explosive nature of the alleged magick. "You know, the one that made you and Buffy…" She trailed off, obviously contemplating the perfect word to use.

"Snog like bunnies?"

"Yup," she agreed. "The second I saw you two like that, I knew you were gonna fall for each other. I mean, you guys are so meant to be!"

"Yeah, well I wouldn't count on that, pet," Spike said dismissively, standing up and brushing off his jeans. "You'd best be off to school, love, or I may just find a redwood slammed into my chest."

Dawn pouted for a spell, but stopped when she saw that Spike was all business. "Can I come over and… hang out after school?"

Reluctantly, he shook his head. "I'm doing evil things then, love; you'd best head to the hospital this afternoon." Dawn nodded and began to head to the door, but stopped when Spike called her name.

"Yeah?"

"Would you… tell your mum I say hello?"

Dawn smiled gratefully at the embarrassed vampire. "Yeah, I will." She reached out to open the door, but turned once more before leaving. "And Spike?"

"What is it, Bit?"

The teenager smirked at him mischievously. "I won't tell anyone about how you're all in love with my sister, either." Before he could respond, she was out the door and into the sunlight.

Spike headed toward his refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of blood, taking a quick drink from it to ease the dull ache in his head. He had managed to get her mind off of it, but there was just something _off_ about what Dawn had told him. Even though the men that had spoken to her seemed nothing more than run-of-the-mill loonies, it was too much of a coincidence for them both to target _her._

Slayer be damned. He wasn't about to let his nibblet suffer unduly. Pulling his duster on, the vampire headed down to the lower level of his crypt and into the tunnels, heading straight to the Magic Box to find out what was going on.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ugh! This chapter was hard for me, sorry. I've had _so_ much homework so forgive the delay-- I'll try to get the chapters out as soon as possible, but check in!!! 3 I have a bunch written after this point, so hopefully it won't take too long for me to update. Thanks for the reviews!

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_**Fool Me Once

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**__Chapter 5_

"No way."

"What?"

"No way!" Joyce exclaimed, holding out the magazine and displaying its emboldened caption for her youngest daughter to see. "I definitely did not expect _those _two to get together."

"It's not like they have anything in common," Dawn said in skepticism of the article, taking the copy of _Star_ from her mother and reading it, her eyebrow raised the entire time. "Ugh, do movie stars even look at who they're dating?"

"If they have to work with them," Buffy said disinterestedly, drumming her fingers on the table impatiently while gazing up at the muted television.

Joyce eyed her daughter with concern, then asked softly, "Are you alright, Buffy?"

"What?" Buffy looked over quickly, then shook her head in apology. "Sorry, Mom, just a little wired."

"Why don't you go out and patrol?" Joyce suggested with a smile, holding up the large pile of magazines stacked on her bed and saying, "Dawn and I still have a decent supply of gossip to go through."

Buffy hesitated, then gave her mother an apologetic look. "You wouldn't mind?"

"No, sweetie, you go," Joyce answered.

"Thanks Mom," Buffy said gratefully, kissing her on the cheek and pulling on her jacket. "If you need anything, I'm going to stop by the Magic Box and see whether they've left for patrol yet."

"Bye Buffy," Dawn said as her sister left the room, grabbing another magazine and flipping through its pages apathetically.

The shop was dark and the door locked when Buffy arrived at the Magic Box. "Crap," she said grumpily, peering through the blinds and trying to see whether anyone was inside. There _was_ a light on in the back room; maybe Giles and the others were in research mode or something.

She contemplated knocking but doubted they'd be able to hear her. Walking around to the back, she reached out to open the door, but it swung into her she even touched it.

"Spike!" Buffy said in surprise, looking up at the equally shocked vampire halting his movement through the doorway the second he saw her. "What are you… are you stealing, Spike?" Her tone acquired an exasperated quality, reflected by her response of crossing her arms. He didn't play along, though; there was a look in his eyes that made it clear that this was not a time for banter between the two. Something was wrong.

"Spike?" she asked tentatively; he looked to away in response, clenching his jaw and swallowing thickly, in an action reminiscent of his own the night before upon hearing about her mother's illness. Oh yeah, there was _definitely_ something wrong.

"How could you, Slayer?" His voice was coated with a thick layer of hurt, and a sense of dread began to form in Buffy's chest.

"How could I _what_? What were you doing in there?" Buffy asked, attempting to look past him but unable to do so with his body in the doorway. "Listen, Spike, I don't know what you're on about—"

"Were you planning on telling me about where the Bit came from, or would I have had to do this," he gestured behind to the obviously vacant shop, implicating his unconventional form of entry, "to find out?" Nonplussed by Buffy's shocked silence, the vampire ranted on. "Or better yet, were you even gonna tell Dawn? Because Slayer, she's smarter than you think—bloody well told me herself that she suspected something of the like, and I come here to find out what's what, and I find out that what she's afraid of is…" The vampire choked, unable to finish his sentence as he swept out of the building, slamming the door behind him.

Buffy stared for a moment at his retreating form, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Spike knew that Dawn was the key. The seriousness of the situation was not lost on her; if he was as angry as he seemed, he could do something to threaten the wellbeing of her or her family. The likelihood of that was slim, but knowing Spike, it was safe to expect a certain degree of irrationality from him until she dealt with him.

There was only one way to fix this problem: she had to go after him.

Approaching Spike's crypt, Buffy tried to tell herself that the only thing motivating her to come to him, to explain and (as crazy as it sounded) apologize, was in order to keep her family out of jeopardy; however, Crazy!Buffy decided to make an unexpected visit and kept her standing before the wooden door for a good three minutes.

Had Spike really expected her to tell him about Dawn being the Key, when he had been more than willing to kill her less than a week before? It seemed crazy, but the vampire never had been abundant in the logic department. Maybe it wasn't so much the fact that she didn't tell _him_, but that she had been keeping the information from Dawn. Buffy knew that the vampire's soft spot was with her sister—it had been that way ever since he'd laid eyes upon the girl, even before he had started to show himself to be an ally.

What Spike didn't understand was the magnitude of the situation. Glory was a force that was most definitely _not_ meant to be reckoned with, and Buffy hadn't even told her own _mother_ about her supposed daughter's origin. The deception was meant for protection, and it was necessary. It was the same in Spike's case. While initially her intentions had been to conceal the knowledge from the then-untrustworthy Evil Dead, she realized that in the past few days, they had suddenly changed.

Now it was because she knew that he was necessary—for the protection of her sister, the fight against Glory, and, as much as she hated to admit it, the strength that he gave her.

_Must be some connection_, Buffy thought wryly, then suddenly realizing just how long she'd been standing in front of his door. "Well, no time like the present." Opening the door in a manner unlike that of her usual rude entrance, she found Spike seated in a chair holding a cup of blood and watching the Real World playing on the television.

"Wondering when you were bloody going to come in," he muttered darkly, taking a deep drink from the mug he held. "Come to stake me then, pet?"

It took nearly all of her Slayer strength to resist yelling at him to drop the drama queen act and to listen to her; she opted instead for a response that may actually lead him to _want_ to hear her out, and said, "I'm sorry."

"Come again?" Spike asked, feigning deafness and holding his hand behind his ear. "I'm sorry love, but I could've sworn you said you were sorry."

"Well I am," she answered, closing the door behind her and striding into the room to settle herself on the chair opposite his. "Spike… As I'm sure you already know, Dawn is the Key." When she paused, he didn't reply, so she continued. "We're not even really sure yet just what the Key _is_, but Glory—you know, evil blonde bitch with the snake?—is after it. These monks, they made her… from me. My blood. And she was sent to us—"

"Five months ago." His voice held no anger, but she could tell he was trying his best not to let his emotions overcome him again.

"I don't know whether this will help, but the others don't know a thing. Not even my mom."

Spike looked up in surprise at that, raising an eyebrow at the blonde before him. He looked as if he wanted to say something spiteful, but merely leaned forward to place his now-empty cup on the table in front of him. There was an obvious debate going on in his head, and Buffy couldn't help but smile as she watched his inner-turmoil so apparent on his features.

"Listen, Buffy," he said, the use of her real name not lost on her, "I didn't mean to… jump all over you like that."

"It's okay, Spike."

"It's just that… Well bloody hell, Buffy, you should've seen how upset Dawn was today—"

"Dawn was here today?"

Spike froze, his expression one that personified the word 'oops.' "Well she just, uh, stopped by before school, wasn't planning on staying at all, just happening on by to tell me all about her, uh—"

"Spike. It's alright." Buffy said, a bemused smile on her face. It really was cute how flustered he got when he—_Did you just say he was cute???_

"Um, I think the deafness is setting in again Slayer. I think you just said—"

"I know you didn't _tell_ her to ditch school to hang out here," Buffy interrupted. "And I assume you were the one who sent her there?" The vampire awkwardly nodded, and she realized that he was doing that thing where he cared for people other than himself. Again. God, what happened to the 'I'd help but I'm paralyzed with not caring' vampire that had been a pain in her ass the past three years? "And don't worry about me condemning my sis to an eternity of misery, because we all do stupid things when we're…"

"Scared?"

"Yeah," she said, leaning back into her own chain and eyeing the vampire cautiously. Everything seemed to be back to normal, as she was no longer on the receiving end of the Spike Death Glare. They sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes; Buffy was surprised that none of the jumpy tension she felt earlier was pervading her body right now, even though she was doing nothing more than she had done at the hospital.

"How's your mum?"

"Okay, are you, like, reading my mind or something? Because I didn't know vamps could do that," Buffy asked, more than a little wigged at the coincidental question. "Well, Dracula kinda could, but then again—"

"Pet?" Spike interrupted, causing Buffy to stop talking and blush slightly. "If you don't want to talk about it—"

"No, no, it's fine," she said. "I mean, it's way less torturous saying anything to you, when all the other guys are like, 'Oh, well she's going to definitely skip through a field of yellow flowers as soon as she gets over the teensy brain tumor,' and I really can't stand it."

The vampire shook his head ruefully, taking another swallow of blood before speaking. "I've lived it, you know. The ailing mother tale." There was a pause as Buffy absorbed the surprising information she had just received. "She was dying. There was nothing I could do. And I was so scared that I got myself turned into a vampire just to have some _control_."

The implication of what he had done to 'save' his mother was not lost on the Slayer. It was a moment before Buffy spoke. "Color me stunned, but I had no idea, Spike."

"Yeah, well, I guess you missed when they showed me on _Biography_." He gave her a wry smile, his best attempt to lighten the mood. "I just thought you might find it interesting to know, pet. Because it can be really easy for situations like these to get… worse." The vampire shrugged nonchalantly, a half-smile playing at his lips. "Just don't want Nibblet to be sad is all, love."

Buffy smiled at him, the moment not requiring anything more from her. A few days ago, this display from the vampire would have seemed foreign and entirely false, but she knew better than that now. How she had come to be so comfortable with him, she didn't know, but to attribute this entire reversal of their relationship to a dream seemed… ridiculous.

"You alright, love?"

His voice broke her from her thoughts and she realized that she had been sitting there silently for quite a long period of time. "I'm fine… just a little pensive is all."

"Thinking about heading back to your mum, yet?"

"Soon," she answered. "About her—she's going into surgery in the next few days, but the doctor hasn't scheduled her in yet. The waiting is worse, you know, than the actual thought of her surgery. And she's getting major cabin fever."

"Why don't you tell the doc to send her home for a spell until they've got her all set up?"

"Do you think they'll let us do that?" The idea seemed like the perfect solution—her mom would get some quality time at home where she could actually rest, and the normality would probably do her sister a lot of good. No kid wants to spend their teen years hanging around in a hospital. "Did I ever tell you that you're an evil genius, Spike?"

"Goes with the territory," he answered imperturbably, but she could see something light up in his eyes when she smiled at him.

"I'm gonna head home then," Buffy said, standing up and walking to the door. She opened it, but before walking through turned back to the vampire. "Thanks for making me realize that I've got to tell them the truth… It's hard to let people in on my world sometimes, you know."

Her words were surprisingly open and honest, and Spike couldn't do anything but nod in response. As she walked through the door, the vampire's thoughts were sent back to their encounters of the past week and the strange level of comfort they experienced with one another.

There was something different about the Slayer, and as much as he wanted to save himself the rejection of reality, he couldn't let himself walk away.

Apparently, Spike was Love's Bitch after all.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! You guys are really encouraging me:) I wouldn't've been able to get this far without you!

* * *

_**Fool Me Once

* * *

**__Chapter 6_

The faint sound of her mother's voice rambling nonsensically traveled downstairs and reached Buffy's ears. Stubbornly, she tried to block it out, beginning to clean the pile of dirty dishes from several days before, but it was too much. Reaching out and turning the stereo on, the loudly-playing music managed to drown out the sounds from upstairs.

The doctor had let them taker their mother home until her surgery, but Buffy didn't know whether she could handle the way she had been acting. When she had made the suggestion, it had been before her mom had started losing a grip on reality, and in hindsight, maybe keeping Dawn from seeing that would have been the best action.

Too late now, though. Their mom was home, and she had already not only royally wigged her sister out, but she had begun to say things to Dawn that were eerily similar to what the man in the hospital had said… Their mother had unknowingly realized what Dawn was, before she even had a chance to tell her…

Buffy set a plate down so hard that it shattered; everything was falling apart.

* * *

Spike stared through the window at his Slayer, knowing without a doubt the cause of the ridiculously loud music blaring through the speakers. It wasn't enough to quiet the sound of Joyce's rambling, at least not from his vampiric senses. He could hear the Bit upstairs too, crying her eyes out but trying to be quiet. 

He didn't know why he was here. Well, to be honest, he _did_ know, but had no real _reason_. He'd had no real reason to pass by the hospital earlier to see whether he could slip in to visit Joyce, so he hadn't made himself visible when the three Summers women had gotten into their Jeep and taken off, Buffy driving precariously but still trying to help her mother. He had faintly heard their mother saying something about muffins in her gallery and it hadn't taken a genius to figure out that her tumor was making her less than sane.

But none of that really explained why he was standing in their backyard chain-smoking and feeling like a bloody stalker.

And then he saw Buffy's face crumple, and he knew why he had come; before he knew what had happened, he was walking through the back door and pulling her into his arms, the tears running down her face soaking his shirt. She loosely fisted the cloth in one hand, the other worming its way inside his coat and holding him more tightly against her. Spike didn't think about the unlikelihood of the current situation, the Slayer seeking solace in the arms of the vicious killer he was—the person who she knew had come to kill her only nights ago. She had sought comfort from him then, too.

He was here because he was the only one who could give it to her.

It wasn't long before her sobs began to subside and the grip she had on his body began to loosen. She didn't pull away through. They stood there for a moment longer, the ridiculous music still playing, until Spike reached over to turn it off.

There was a moment of silence punctuated by a piercing scream.

"Dawn!" Buffy yelled, finally leaving Spike's arms to run up the stairs. He followed a moment later, after grabbing a knife from the pile of dishes.

Starting up the stairs, Spike had to duck to avoid the demonic body thrown down the steps. Leaping down after it, he restrained the flailing beast until the Slayer appeared before him. Deliberately, she picked the knife up from the floor. Reaching out and taking hold of the demon's head, she cut its throat with a single slash.

Its struggling abruptly stopped and Spike let it fall to the ground. He stared awkwardly at Buffy, and then moved suddenly to escape through the front door.

"What are you doing?"

Her voice surprised him, and he stilled his hand on the door knob. "I'll leave so you can deal… with the family and the like."

"Stay."

The word hit him like a bolt of electricity. "Say again, pet?"

"I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, hesitating for a moment before heading up the stairs then moving closer to Spike and pressing herself into his embrace once more. "Thank you," she murmured.

Abruptly, the front door burst open and a group of commandos led by Riley were unexpectedly standing before them, viewing the suddenly uncomfortable moment that Buffy and Spike had been sharing. The Slayer pulled away from him at the sight of Riley's dubious expression, a look of guilt on her face enough to confirm any worries that the soldier had.

"Miss Summers, where's the demon?" a faceless commando asked after an awkward moment. By way of reply, Spike moved to the side and exposed the still-prone body lying on the floor.

"I have to go upstairs and check on my family," Buffy said quickly, moving up the stairs without saying another word to Riley or the soldiers.

Spike quirked an eyebrow at her boyfriend, then made a motion with his head as to indicate his departure. "I guess your work here is done, mate? Showed up just in time, eh?"

Riley sent him a venomous glare, then stalked away from the doorway and led the commandos into an unmarked van parked in front of the house. The last two carted the demon's body out along with them, and left Spike standing alone with a growing sense of unease.

The soldier boy's look of menace didn't scare the vampire, but he wasn't stupid enough to know that Riley wouldn't try something. Not only that, though, the usually repugnant scent of the Slayer's boyfriend carried something… different. Something strangely familiar, but that Spike couldn't quite place his finger on…

There was something strange going on, and it definitely was not of the good. And whatever it was, it would all be out in the open soon enough—he could feel it coming.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, and sorry for the delay in updating. I hope you guys haven't forgotten about my story!!! 3

* * *

_**Fool Me Once

* * *

**__Chapter 7_

It was a while before Buffy headed back downstairs. She found Spike sprawled out in one of their armchairs and sipping from a mug of dark liquid. Upon her questioning gaze, he simply said, "It's not blood, it's hot chocolate."

"Oh." Buffy walked over to the couch across from the vampire's seat and let herself collapse onto the soft cushions, neither one making any attempt at small talk. After the ordeal of the evening, a few minutes of quiet were entirely welcome. Spike obviously hadn't expected that much action upon paying her a visit, and although she knew he didn't mind in the least the fight with the demon, having Riley walking in on them in such a strange moment was… well, it wasn't exactly the most comforting thought knowing that you were pretty much guaranteed to be a punching bag if one so wished.

"How's the Bit?"

Spike's query was a welcome interruption of her thoughts. "As of now, sleeping," Buffy replied. She paused for a moment, as if to compose herself, then continued. "She was pretty freaked out."

"And your mum?" The slight quirk of her eyebrows when she looked away was enough to tell him what he needed to know. "Rather spooked herself, then?"

"Big time," Buffy replied, raising her arms above her head and stretching. Suddenly, she looked back to the vampire, her eyes shining with a familiar brightness—it was that look that she wore when she had put her mind to work, was determined to do something that she didn't think she had the capability to do. Taking a deep breath, the young woman spoke. "Spike, what happened before?"

"Before when?" An immature tactic, but feigning idiocy was safer than jumping to conclusions and finding himself staked right and proper. To tell the truth, his mind had been going crazy the entire time Buffy had been upstairs, but he had never let it wander to the particular occurrence in the kitchen. Trying to figure out what Riley was up to was _much_ safer than questioning the moment that the two had shared.

She saw his discomfort but wasn't about to let him evade this question. It had been subtly growing since the dream, but there was something between her and Spike, and she needed to know what it was. Opting for blunt and to-the-point, Buffy said, "Don't play stupid, Spike. You know when."

He let out a slight chuckle, and then nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He sighed and nervously drummed his fingers against his leg, looking up at her suddenly. "Do you mind if we go outside, pet?" A pack of cigarettes was revealed as to show his intentions, and she wordlessly led him out the back door, shutting it behind them as silently as possible. Spike pulled out a cigarette and lit it swiftly, taking several drags before turning back to the silently waiting Slayer. "What do you want to know?"

The question surprised her; she didn't really know exactly what she _did_ want. "I guess we could start by you saying why you're here."

"Saw you leaving the hospital and stopped by on a whim to see Joyce." The answer was reasonable, but she felt that there was something more. Deciding not to press him for information he didn't want to reveal, Buffy simply nodded. "Anything else?"

Spike's manner was surprisingly guarded and evasive. After the friendliness and closeness that they had shared the past week, it was hard to understand just what had made him change his demeanor. Deciding on being blunt, Buffy asked, "Do you have a problem or something?"

"What?" His voice was incredulous and the façade dropped immediately. "Buffy, love, why would you think that?"

"Well you're making with all the Big Bad… rudeness, and I was just wondering whether I did something to… ugh!" She was suddenly pacing wildly and running her hands through her long blonde locks of hair. "Spike, why are we sitting out here talking to each other? Why am I not staking you like I should be?"

The vampire quirked a scarred eyebrow. "Is that a rhetorical question, or is my unlife on the line here if I answer wrong?"

"I'm being serious!" Buffy countered, her voice reaching a higher octave and her restless moving about increasing. "Spike, you're a vampire. I'm the Slayer. Why is there more between us than there should be?"

Spike scoffed, flicking his cigarette to the side and jumping up to sit on the railing of her porch. "You can't be about to say that I'm the only vampire that you've let live, because I happen to know of a great big ponce who's still carting his big forehead about LA."

"Angel was different. He had a soul. But you don't—there's nothing about you that makes you any different—"

"I'm no different?" The Slayer's words were making him angry. How could she talk about him like he was a random fledgling vamp? He knew for a fact that he was one of the only vampires that she had ever truly feared. And not only that… "Pet, can you honestly say that you think of me as just another vampire?"

"No." Again, there was no hesitation in her response, but when she continued talking, her voice was smaller than it had been the whole night. "And that's what's been such a…"

"Revelation."

"Yeah." Buffy leaned herself against the railing next to Spike and stared at her shoes for a few moments before speaking again. "Thanks for the… comfort, Spike. And for the help with the demon." She hastily added the last part, attempting to cover up the vulnerability in her voice but unable to hide it from the vampire.

"It was no problem, love," he answered honestly, hesitating for a moment and then placing his arm around her shoulders in a gesture reminiscent of their previous encounter on her back porch. Involuntarily, she leaned against his shoulder, breathing in the rich scent of leather and cigarettes. For how long they stayed like that, she didn't know, but after a good period of time passed she couldn't stay away from her responsibility any longer.

"I should probably head back inside," she forced herself to say, lifting her head from his shoulder and moving to stand before him.

"If you need anything…" He trailed off, unsure of how she would receive his offer of help; fortunately, he didn't meet the pointy end of a stake, when she simply smiled and nodded at him. "Well…"

Buffy hesitated for a moment, then leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Good-night, Spike," she said to the stunned vampire, and then turned and walked inside, her heart pounding and lips burning from the strangely comfortable act of affection she had just shown him.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you're liking my story. :)

* * *

_**Fool Me Once

* * *

**__Chapter 8_

As silently as she could, Buffy made her way back up the stairs, her feet padding softly on the carpet as she opened her bedroom door slowly. Closing it and then moving to turn the light on, a voice from behind her startled her out of the distracted state she was currently in.

"Have fun, Buffy?"

The Slayer gave her sister the most exasperated look she could manage before saying, "Why are you in my room, Dawn?"

"Waiting for you," the brunette answered, with a tone that suggested just how obvious her answer was. "Took long enough, didn't you?"

Rolling her eyes, Buffy pulled off her sweater, tossed it haphazardly behind her, and began searching through her drawers for some pajamas. As much as Dawn's tone was of the light and flippant variety, Buffy was perceptive enough to know when there was something on her mind. In an equally casual tone, she said to the younger girl, "So you here for a late-night visit, or is there something you need to ask me?"

"Am I real?"

"What?" The question had been so straightforward, something so completely not Dawn's style, that Buffy couldn't help the word from slipping from her mouth. She turned to face her sister, who was now sitting on her bed with her face in her hands. "Dawn, what…"

It was time. She couldn't tell her sister anything otherwise without being unfair to the girl, and as much as she wished she could keep her duties and repercussions of being the Slayer away from her family, it was impossible. Listening to hear whether their mother was making any noise, Buffy sat herself down next to Dawn and placed her hand gently on her arm, pulling her hands away from her fearful face.

"Buffy?" Dawn asked, her voice full of fear and vulnerability.

The Slayer took a deep breath and began to speak. "Dawn… Some of the things I'm about to tell you may be confusing, but I know that you'll be able to understand. I just…" Her voice trailed off for a moment when she felt a lump forming in her throat. "I just need you to let me explain everything before you ask any questions… And even then, we still have a lot ourselves."

Dawn was blessedly silent and attentive; it surprised Buffy that she wasn't completely wigging and pressuring her to hurry up, but then again, in another situation she may not have been treating her sister her age. Apparently, the girl was more mature than she or their mother had given her credit for. "I promise that I'll listen, Buffy. Just… just tell me now."

"Okay." Another deep breath. "Dawn, you _are_ my sister. You _are_ real. You're just… new." She paused to organize her thoughts, then continued. "Five months ago, these monks, they were trying to protect something really important from Glory," she explained. "What they were trying to defend is called the Key. They knew that they needed someone strong to take care of it, so they sent it to me—they sent _you_ to me, Dawn. They made the Key into a human, into my sister."

Tears were shining in the younger sister's eyes when Buffy stopped for a moment. "Only five months? But what about all the memories we have?" Horror manifested on Dawn's face. "Oh god, they never happened…"

"They did, Dawn," Buffy said quickly. "At least to us—all of us. We remember having you Dawn, and we love you. We really do."

"Buffy," Dawn sniffled, wiping her streaming eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. "Is that why those crazy guys… and mom… they said I shouldn't be here?"

"Dawn, you _are_ supposed to be here—you're so important, and there is no one else in this entire world that I would take care of like this." By now, tears were falling from Buffy's eyes as well, but she ignored them, instead reaching out to wipe away her sister's. "I love you, Dawnie. Mom loves you. We _all_ do, and I promise… I won't let anything hurt you."

The two sisters shared an embrace then, Buffy silently stroking Dawn's hair while she sniffled against her shoulder. They stayed that way for a few minutes until the younger girl quieted down; Buffy nudged her gently and they pulled apart. Hesitantly, Dawn gave her sister a smile and said, "Thanks, Buffy."

"It's no problem, Dawn," she answered, standing and pulling the other girl to her feet. "But tonight has been not the most restful, and you need to get to sleep."

"Wait."

"What is it, Dawnie?" Buffy asked, more than ready to answer any other questions the girl may have about her origin.

"Do you like Spike?"

"What?" Yet again with the incredulous 'what-ing.' The question was _completely_ out of nowhere, and it took Buffy a moment to realize that she was staring at her now giggling sister with a slack-jawed look on her face. "Um… what?" _Great way to evade the question, Slayer_, Buffy thought to herself, mentally slamming her head into her nightstand.

Dawn was full-out laughing as she said, "Oh you so do, Buffy."

"I do not!"

"Do too! Why else did you take forever coming up and walk into the room with that big dopey expression on your face?"

"I was… thinking about class!"

"So which class makes you blush like you just did something naughty?"

The conversation had certainly moved onto easier subjects—for Dawn, at least. Buffy rolled her eyes and gave her little sister a look that clearly said 'Aren't you supposed to be young and uninformed about naughty things?' "There were no 'naughty things' been done, if that's what you were wondering."

Dawn's raised an eyebrow and said simply, "But you still haven't answered my question… Do you like Spike?"

Almost automatically answering with the 'of course not!' that came from her history with the vampire, thinking back on the past week and the time they'd shared together—the opening up, the comfort he gave her, the… connection…

"Oh my god," Buffy moaned, her face sinking into her hands in an action mirroring that of her sister before. "I like _Spike_."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! It's so great to know that you're all enjoying this. :) Hope you like the chapter!

* * *

_**Fool Me Once

* * *

**__Chapter 9_

Wandering about the streets of Sunnydale was not a pastime many practiced, especially during the dead of the night. Not that Spike had consciously made the choice to take an impromptu tour about the town—it just so happened that he didn't realize where his feet were carrying him when his face was still burning from the Slayer's touch.

To be honest, the last thing Spike had expected from Buffy was a peck on the cheek and a polite good-night—exactly how he managed to be brought to hope again just when he began to lose it was either a blessing or a curse. The entire conversation they had shared was full of moments that caused his heart to do strange flip-flops of the variety that he had experienced when he was living. But when he realized that Buffy was wondering some of the same things that _he_ was… well, it was enough to make the vampire wonder whether the Slayer could be, dare he say it, feeling similarly towards him as he was to her.

And speaking of Buffy.

"Well lookie, lookie what I found," Spike said in a lazy drawl, the object of his observations halting and turning at the vampire's word. "What's a young whippersnapper such as yourself doing out at such a late hour? Do I need to drag you home to Buffy and get her to teach you a lesson?"

Riley's only reaction to Spike's words was to launch a stake towards his chest. The vampire caught it easily between his palms and let it fall to the ground, the sharp sound of the wood hitting pavement echoing through the alley. "Well, well," Spike chuckled, "that wasn't very nice, was it?"

"Stay away from her, Spike," Riley said, venom dripping from his words. "If you bother her again—"

"Well, as it is Soldier Boy, it's been _her_ coming to _me_. And as much as it may sting to hear the words, the bird likes my company." He smirked. "Maybe you just aren't dark enough for—"

Riley lunged forwards and pushed Spike against the brick wall. The vampire let out a harsh laugh and started to taunt the soldier again, but the sight of a second stake being pulled from his jacked stopped his words. "I'm darker than you think, Spike," he said, then plunged the weapon into the vampire's chest.

Spike experienced a moment of extreme panic before he realized he wasn't disintegrating into dust. "Ow!" he yelled, when the shock disappeared and was replaced with pain. "That bloody well hurt!" He paused for a moment, looking down at the stake still protruding from his chest. "And why aren't I dead?"

"Wood grain plastic," Riley answered, pulling the useless weapon from the vampire's chest. "If you don't stay away, next time it'll be real."

Spike chuckled again, observing the hole in his chest as if it were merely a stain on his shirt. "Look at you, all afraid I'm hot for your honey."

"Because you are."

The vampire raised a scarred eyebrow. "Well, yeah, but I don't remember when exactly that became your business."

Riley merely scowled at the words. "I'm not stupid, Spike. I saw you talking to her—"

"Yeah, mate, that's exactly what we were doing. Talking." Rolling his eyes, Spike pulled out a cigarette and his lighter, flicking it open and illuminating the brick walls of the alley with the light of the flame. "Now, I understand you're the jealous type and all, but really, spying on her? She's most definitely not the type for that."

"I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you don't hurt her," Riley spat out, his eyes narrowed at Spike's shorter frame.

"Then you'd best not go flinging stakes at her, eh? Or accusations," Spike countered, the cigarette still between his lips as he spoke. "Because she's got enough on her plate without you playing Mr. Possessive and trying to keep her from seeing me."

"Just what makes you think she wants to see you, anyway?"

The vampire chuckled at Riley's words, mirroring the thoughts he had in his own mind. "It's a good question, isn't it?" Flicking the ash from his cigarette, Spike gave a shrewd smile to the soldier standing before him. "But the difference between you and me, mate, is that now I know the answer to it."

Squaring his shoulders, Riley took a threatening step closer to Spike and spoke, his voice low and deadly. "If I see you with her again, Spike—"

"I think we've covered this, Commander," he lazily interrupted, not intimidated in the least. "Now why don't you run off and play with the other puppies, eh?"

With one last scowl, Riley turned away and left, walking further down the alley. Spike stared after him a minute, uneasily—it wasn't that he was afraid of the soldier, but the direction he was headed wasn't exactly the most normal. In fact, he was going towards a particularly demon-infested area in the town—and armed only with, as it so appeared, a useless plastic stake.

Still able to see his form through the darkness of the alley, Spike felt compelled to follow the man, part of him wanting to see what he was up to but another thinking of Buffy's face upon hearing the news that her boyfriend had been viciously slaughtered by a gang of vamps after finding her in a compromising position with said demons.

It wasn't that he was being noble—on the contrary, he wanted to make sure that he could continue seeing Buffy, knowing that Riley's influence wasn't particularly strong with his Slayer. No, there were selfish motivations involved. But, hello, vampire—selfish motivations never exactly interfered with the fact that he was motivated.

So Spike followed Riley. He followed him through the darkened, deserted streets of Sunnydale and down another trash-filled alley, into the abandoned house full of his vampire brethren, and watched as the young, blood-starved female drank deeply from him as he moaned his completion.

Spike didn't want to see, but he couldn't stop himself. And the only thing on his mind when he viewed the very definition of betrayal was the sweet face of the beautiful young woman he loved, a feeling of dread beginning to penetrate his unliving body.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: You guys are great. :) Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjoy! (I really couldn't resist putting this scene in here.) ;)

* * *

_**Fool Me Once

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**__Chapter 10_

Buffy sat nervously in the hospital waiting room, one eye on the clock and the other on her pensive sister sitting next to her. She had been seemingly calm through the several hours that they had already waited, reading the book on spells that Willow brought without any complaint from her sister—but Buffy knew that Dawn must have quite a bit on her mind, considering the conversation they had with their mother prior to her being taken in to surgery.

It had surprised both of them that Joyce had remembered what she had seen in her second daughter when her sanity was less-than-present; even more surprising was the connections she made to what she had sensed. The anticipation of their mother's reaction had worn on both of the sisters, so when she had pulled both of the girls into her arms and told them she loved them, all the exhaustion of the past few weeks finally crashed down upon their forms.

So there they stayed, waiting for their mother's return. Giles, Xander, Willow, and Riley were all there, with Anya watching the Magic Shop. Giles paced, Xander and Willow talked nervously, and Riley… he was mostly silent, staring at the wall in front of them and occasionally patting Buffy's arm in a gesture of attempted comfort.

The past several days had been a constant event of taking care of both her mother and Dawn, so Buffy hadn't had much time to think about anything other than her familial responsibilities. In the quiet waiting for the surgery to end, however, Dawn wasn't the only one with big things on her mind.

The weight of realization was heavy, but uplifting at the same time. Guiltily, Buffy tried to avoid thinking of a certain vampire's wickedly gorgeous face while her significant other dozed next to her, but his role in the support of her the past few weeks was instrumental in her ability to care for her mother. Essentially, the fact that she had made it this far in the increasingly messy web of cancer and medical care could be attributed solely to him… since that first night on her porch, Spike had been there for her, and there was no way for him to realize just what he was beginning to mean to her.

A moment later, Buff jumped slightly when Riley put his hand on her knee. "Sorry," he said, giving her a half-smile.

"No, don't be," Buffy answered quickly, the pangs of guilt in her stomach beginning to make her feel somewhat sick. "I'm just… I'm going to go get something from the machine, you want anything?"

"I'll get it for—"

"It's fine, I need to stretch my legs," she interrupted, giving Riley the sweetest smile she could manage and rising to her feet. "If anything happens—"

"I'll come get you right away." His tone was normal, but Buffy sensed that undercurrent of irritation that had been so present in his voice as of late. Turning away from her now-sleeping sister and involuntarily-snubbed boyfriend, Buffy walked down the adjacent hallway to the nearest vending machine. Searching through her pockets for enough change for a soda, she came up five cents short.

"Damn it," Buffy said, frustration infiltrating her voice as she looked through her pockets once more and turned her gaze to the floor.

"I'll give you a nickel if you watch your language, Li'l Lady." His liquid smooth voice caused her to jump backwards and into the machine, a loud thud echoing through the pristine halls.

"Spike!" Buffy said, her words surprisingly loud and squeaky. "What're you doing here?"

"Just wondering whether there was anything new with your mum," the vampire answered. "Do you—"

"We don't know anything yet," Buffy said quickly, looking away and studying the brightly-colored depictions of the soda brands on the machine.

"Hey, now," Spike said upon her instantly worried expression, reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "What have we here?"

Pretentiously, he seemingly pulled a silver coin from behind the Slayer's ear, eliciting a smile and a laugh from the blonde. "I'm not five, you know, Mr. Evil Dead."

"I know, but it made you smile all the same," he answered, a grin appearing on his face to match hers. "Is there… anything I can do, pet?"

Buffy shook her head, slipping the nickel into the coin slot and receiving her soda from the machine. "You've definitely done enough, Spike," she answered, looking up at the vampire and the modest expression on his face. "I… told Dawn and my mom. About, you know…"

"How'd they take it?" he asked solemnly.

"Surprisingly well," she answered, a wry expression on her face. "A lot better than they would've found out any other way, I think. And that's because of you." Her last words penetrated into him deeply, sending some of the light and warmth in her sweet smile into the cold depths of his body.

To know something that would strip the warmth from her beautiful face… a pang of guilt infected the growing heat inside of him and shadowed the glow within. "Slayer, I—"

"Buffy?" Riley's voice was incredulous, tinged with something not unlike jealousy. The second she heard his voice, a strange look went over her face, and she exasperatedly turned to face her impatiently waiting boyfriend. "The doctor's out of surgery, he's waiting for you." Without another word, the man walked down the hall, leaving Slayer and vampire alone together in a now-uncomfortable silence.

"Well, I guess I'd better…" Insecurity was plain on Spike's face, as he slowly began inching away from the Slayer's small frame.

"Do you want to come with me?" Buffy blurted out, her face reddening with her invitation.

He hesitated for a moment, and then nodded; the two set off down the hallway and towards the throng of her closest friends standing before the doctor. Upon the site of Spike, Riley's face darkened and he turned away from the blonde. Giles and Willow merely gave Buffy questioning looks, the redhead not-so-subtly pinching Xander to keep him quiet when he opened his mouth to vocalize his wonderment.

Oblivious to this scene, Doctor Kriegel began to speak. "Okay, your mom's in recovery."

"What happened, is she all right?" The doctor's frank manner wasn't straightforward enough at this moment, and all Buffy wanted was to know if her mother was going to get better.

"It was possible to visualize the tumor completely, which means I was able to get all of it. So, barring complications in recovery ... I think your mother's going to be fine."

"Yes!" Dawn yelled, jumping on Spike and nearly knocking the surprised vampire over.

"Of course we're still going to have to watch your mother carefully, and, uh, have her back in here for some follow-up testing, but, uh, overall I'd consider the procedure a complete success," the doctor quickly finished, Buffy nodding adamantly with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh, doctor, thank you, thank you so much!" the Slayer said, the happiness in her voice spilling over when she hugged the doctor with all her might.

"Ow!" he yelled, Buffy jumping back in fright as she remembered too-late her strength.

"Oh, sorry!" she said, nonplussed by the doctor's inquisitive look as she turned to her celebrating friends and shared their enjoyment. Spike stood a little away from the group, smiling at the blonde as she hugged Giles and Xander. He was only too-aware of Riley's glare directed towards him, but knowing that Joyce was healthy was more than enough to make up for his likely impeding death.

"Spike," Dawn said, turning back to him after bear hugging Willow. "What exactly are you doing here, anyway?"

"Checking up on your mum, Bit."

"But how'd you get here in the daylight?"

"That is an excellent question," Giles said, finally addressing the vampire standing before the gradually-calming group. "It's mid-afternoon, surely you didn't—"

"Sewer pipes, lead up to under the ambulance bay, it's shielded from the light this time of day," Spike answered shortly, winking at Dawn and smiling. "But, if my company isn't desired, I'll just be on—"

"No!" Surprisingly, the word was shouted by three people simultaneously—Buffy, Dawn, and, strangely enough, Willow. Buffy gave her best friend a questioning look for a moment, and then turned back to the somewhat stunned vampire. "Spike, whenever it's alright for us to leave, would you like to go with us to the Bronze?"

"Um… yeah, alright then," he answered quickly, not about to refuse the oh-so adamant offer.

She smiled and started to turn to Giles to ask him something when the larger man cut in front of her and cleared his throat. "Can I talk to you a minute, Buffy?" Riley asked tersely, his first words since his brusque information of the doctor's arrival.

"Yeah, sure," she said evenly, a feeling of dread beginning to form in her stomach when he led her away from the group now chatting amiably among themselves. "What's the what, Riley?"

The soldier sent a venomous look towards the vampire and then looked back to the petite blonde before him. "What exactly is _he_ doing here, Buffy? And why exactly are you wanting to… hang out with him?"

"Spike's… he's… I…" After several failed starts, Buffy shook her head exasperatedly, throwing her hands into the air. "Riley, what is your _problem_?"

"_My_ problem?" he said, his voice rising a level in volume as he gestured back to the not-so-oblivious group behind them. "You're the one who wants to socialize with a murderer!"

The words Riley chose sent Spike's blood boiling—not for the barbs aimed towards him, but the hypocrisy of his statements, knowing exactly who the soldier had been cavorting with as of late. He refrained from stepping in, though, the Slayer angrily saying, "Exactly who I spend time with is not for you to judge, Riley. I can't believe you're picking a fight with me when my mom has just—"

"Have you even thought about your mom in all the time you've been hanging out with Spike?"

He had stepped over the line. Buffy crossed her arms in front of her chest and narrowed her eyes at the tall man before her, her voice deadly soft as she said, "I owe no explanation to you Riley. Now get out of here."

He hesitated for a moment, then stalked out of the room, leaving Buffy to stare at her friends standing before her. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice surprisingly small after its force from before.

"It's okay, Buffy," Willow said, the first to walk forward and pull the blonde into a hug. "Do you want to…?"

"Yeah," the Slayer answered quickly, turning to the others a moment. "We'll catch up with you, you guys go ahead."

"Okay, Buff," Xander said, eyeing Spike's form next to him and shrugging. "See you at the Bronze for celebratory goodness?"

"Definitely," Buffy confirmed. "Giles, you don't mind watching Dawn for a while, do you?"

"No, I dare say it will be an interesting affair," the older man said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.

"Ol' Rupes here'll have a ball," Spike said condescendingly, giving Buffy a peculiar look before leaning closer to her form and conspiratorially whispering, "Do you need me to take care of Captain Cardboard for you?"

"Thanks, but oh, god no," Buffy said, shrugging, then adding, "I may just have to take care of that myself."

"Right then." Spike nodded and then turned to Dawn, walking out with the other two men and leaving the Slayer and Witch alone.

"Okay," Buffy said to the redhead as they sat down on the uncomfortable plastic chairs. "There're some things I need to confess."


End file.
